How Important Is Your Book Title?

Title is huge. When browsing a book store, you’re reaching for the title before the blurb. It’s important to get it right.

Thanks for the great post on how to come up with a good title. I always struggle.

I like short, succinct titles. When I was coming up for titles for my YA trilogy, I was given some advice that my current ones weren’t marketable. So I came up with a bunch of ideas then went to the local middle school and took a vote in about six different classes. The titles I am using won by a landslide in every class. Kids know what they like, I guess

A very good point! I can’t write a story or novel until I have a good title that suits the story. For me it’s exactly the same as finding the right names for the characters. Titles of books often make me want to investigate the content.

Totally agree with your post; the title is extremely important, though I can also see the advice of “don’t get too attached to it” being taken the wrong way.

That said, I wonder if the correlation between title choice and sales varies by genre or by name recognition. One of the essays in Editors on Editing talks about the Sci Fi market being so different from the rest due to what can only be called name brand loyalty. I know, it has absolutely no bearing on what I do, but it’s an academically interesting topic, anyway. Thank you for bringing it up.

Yes! Titles are hugely important to me when I’m choosing books. The title is the very first thing that hits most people. It’s like meeting people at a party. The title is the first glance and introduction. What is this book saying about itself with its title? Is it charming and confident? Shy? Does it stumble over itself and spill its drink on you?

Just because the title may change is no reason to not put proper work into choosing one to begin with. No agent or publisher is going to want to have drinks with a bad title. Or worse, a mediocre one. At least the bad title will be memorable.

My favorite book title of all time is The Solace of Leaving Early. And I can’t imagine not finding the best title for your own book! My title is something I come back to again and again. It really serves to re-focus my intentions when I feel a bit wayward.

I’m not at all sure that I’m very good at developing compelling titles. Mine tend to be more descriptive, which may, or may not, be a good thing for non-fiction writing.

However, I have found that selecting a title early on helps me to better focus on exactly what message I am trying to convey and to whom.

Best title seen lately? “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. Amazing real life story, succinctly summed up in a single word title.

Wish I could do that!

I’m obsessed with titles and covers, so titles are very important to me. I love finding just the right one. It’s like magic.

Book titles are a BIG draw to me, second to the book cover itself!
I would never have been interested in my friend’s ARC of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE if it were called anything else (the cover was still in its formative stages…).
The *title* drew me in when the cover, concept, and summary *seemed* mediocre. THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT TITLE, because that book is by far the best book I’ve read this year!
That title promised an intriguing tale wrapped in evocative writing, and it delivered!

This morning I woke with my next novel fleshed out and alive in my brain- including a suitable title which summarised the concept. I was working on that when I was hit by a flash of inspiration for the title of my current novel (which has been seeking a suitable name for months). I opened my inbox and discovered one of my short stories is to be published on-line today. Next I opened your mail on titles and your enjoyable day at the conference. This is the third time your daily post has been pertinent to whatever I am focused upon. Life never ceases to amaze me with its coincidences, or how some days creativity seems to expand exponentially and everything feels possible.

I think A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan, is one of the best titled books in a long time.

The title is offbeat, not what you’d normally expect, and metaphoric for aging and dying, the death of dreams as we get older.

The implication, of course, is that we all get a visit from the goon squad sooner or later. So the title acts as a warning, too, to live your dreams today.

The book won the 2011 Pulitzer for fiction, among many other awards.

Book titles are HUGE for me!!! Just the words portray so much about the content. I love coming up with titles for my books. My last WIP went through three title changes

I have also struggled with this. I spent so much time agonizing over just the right title for my most recent book, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking, won’t they just change it anyway. But, I still think it’s so important to pick the right title to represent your book. When I’m searching for a book to read, the title has a ton to do with which book I pick up first.

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The title to the book, I feel, is the place to “hook” the reader. I won’t even open a book if the title doesn’t speak to me or my situation. I have spent months trying to come up with the perfect title for my book that I will start to query in a few months. I’m starting to think there is “no perfect title”.

To me, the title is everything. What I mean is for me the writing of the book is to flush out the title. I allowed my publisher to change the title of my first book and while it made sense at the time, I’ve regretted it every sense!

As a writer, I spend much time brainstorming for the ‘perfect’ title. As a writer with a journalism background, I know that the title, like the story itself, is likely to be changed. However, as a reader I know how often I’ve picked up a book I normally wouldn’t read just because the title on the shelf caught my eye. This post is a great reminder to writers that coming up with a title, whether it remains or goes, is an important part of writing your novel.

A title is very important to me as a book consumer.

A good title will cause me to pick up a book. I still won’t stick with it unless I like it, but it’s definitely a hook.

A middle-of-the-road title I could go either way. I’ll probably still pick it up and browse through if I have time just because I love books.

A poor title is a huge turn-off. If no one bothered to select a good title, it’s like throwing a hook in the water with no bait attached to it. This fish won’t bite.